By Currents News
The Trump administration is suing New York State, claiming in a lawsuit that the state undermines federal immigration enforcement. Despite that, Monsignor James Kelly is in Bushwick, Brooklyn, planning to forge ahead with his decades-long mission of helping help migrants.
By Jessica Easthope
One in every 36 children has been diagnosed with autism, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The neurological condition has been steadily on the rise since doctors and researchers first started tracking it.
Today, while there are advances in communication technology and early intervention leading to more resources for the autism community, misconceptions, stigma and shame still exist – even within the Catholic Church.
People with non-speaking autism describe the condition to Currents News reporter Jessica Easthope as a “mind-body disconnect.”
They take in information and process it, but oftentimes there’s a disruption in the organization and regulation of things like speech and movement. It’s something that can make an experience like going to Mass challenging.
Susan Esposito, a parishioner at the Basilica of Regina Pacis on Staten Island, New York, and her two adult sons who both have non-speaking autism, spoke to Easthope about how faith plays a role in their lives and how the church has received them.
Thirty-three-year-old Charles Esposito can at times been found motoring through puzzles that help bridge the gap of the mind-body disconnect he experiences as someone who has non-speaking autism.
He and his brother Anthony live on Staten Island at On Your Mark, a residence and day program for adults with developmental disabilities. Their mother, Susan, fought to get them there.
“What you’re told when they’re babies and younger, what’s not going to be and what’s not going to happen, happened,” she tells Currents News. “They’re independent. They do their own thing. They come to program. They enjoy their lives.”
Susan has been fighting for her sons all their lives. While faith has been a constant for her family, she says her children have not always been compassionately received at church.
“We were parishioners at a church by my house, and we were thrown out with Charles a number of times. The usher threw us out,” she explains. “Then we went in, standing in the back. Then somebody else told us we had to leave. So it was difficult.”
Recently, thanks to something called a letterboard, both Charles and Anthony have been able to use their own voices to express their pain in moments like that.
“Church always increased anxiety, unfortunately when my vocalizations would take control, I very often felt judged and embarrassed,” he tells Current News.
“Though I have struggled resonating with God, I always felt comfort in the statues. It’s hard to accept why we were created this way,” adds Anthony.
Charles and Anthony take everything in: they learn and process information just like someone who’s neurotypical, but they can’t control their bodies in a way that allows them to consistently and reliably give that information back.
“It turns out that those individuals understand absolutely everything, and the technical term is apraxia for which is difficulty and motor planning,” explains Cheslea Cialino, a therapist at On Your Mark. “And the guys who communicate on the letterboard who have learned this method, it’s not in their control.”
She says that letterboard communication is only recently becoming widely recognized as a credible form of communication for people with non-speaking autism.
“To never know if their voices were ever going to be heard or found, if they were ever going to be understood. I mean, they lived 30 years of their life trusting and hoping that it would come to this,” she explains. “And fortunately it has.”
In terms of their faith, these two men have a lot to say. For the first time in their lives, they can say what they want to get out of the church experience.
When asked what the ideal Mass experience looks like for a Catholic with autism, Charles says it looks the “same as it would for a typical Mass, but I would like to see the parishes be informed on the truth behind non-speaking autism.”
Susan listens to – and is always learning about – her sons.
“We need to make it more welcoming. I know again, it’s overwhelming,” she says. “It’s loud at times with the music, but it’s part of our life. As Catholic families, if there were more religion classes, if there were more church functions, It would help them, I think, to realize, ‘I’m part of this family too: God’s family.’”
By Currents News
From December 24, 2024, when it was first opened by the Holy Father, to February 7, 2025, over one million pilgrims have crossed the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Considering that the first months of the year are a slow season in Rome, these new numbers caught officials by surprise.
In fact, the numbers are likely to increase exponentially in the run-up to Easter, one the times of the year that the Eternal City receives the most tourists and pilgrims.
On Easter Sunday morning alone last year, for the Pope’s Urbi Et Orbi blessing, some 100,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
However, the two key moments for the Jubilee will undoubtedly be April 27, with the canonization of Carlo Acutis during the Jubilee of Adolescents, and the Jubilee of the Youth in late July, where about 2 million people are expected to attend.
Overall, more than 30 million pilgrims are expected to take part in the Holy Year. But Archbishop Rino Fisichella reminds pilgrims that the Jubilee is meant to be about faith and fellowship.
“It is not the numbers that make people say, ‘the Jubilee is successful,’” he tells Currents News. “Because if we were to count the numbers we will find that the hoteliers’ association says the Jubilee is going badly; if we ask the restaurateurs’ association it tells us it is going very well.
The data compiled is only from St. Peter’s Basilica and not from the other papal sites. The numbers are updated on a daily basis.
One in every 36 children has been diagnosed with autism, according to the CDC. Despite advances in autism awareness, stigma and challenges remain, even within the Church. A Catholic family shares how faith helps them navigate life with non-speaking autism.
Catholics worldwide are eagerly joining the 2025 Jubilee Year, with over a million already participating.
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens honors Black History Month with a hands-on tribal mask workshop.
Larry Miles, a 91-year-old veteran, has dedicated over 30 years to teaching Black history through his bookstore and museum, enriching his community with cultural knowledge and artifacts.
By Currents News
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens is celebrating Black History Month by teaching adults how to create their own African tribal mask.
The Narrows Older Adult Center in Brooklyn made the coverings out of plastic bottles while adding their own artistic spin with vibrant colors and different faces.
Tribal masks are typically worn across west, central and southern Africa for harvest celebrations, funerals, rites of passage, and weddings.
By Currents News
Charles and Anthony Esposito learn and process information just like everyone else, but non-speaking autism has prevented them from sharing their thoughts with the world – until now. Jessica Easthope is reporting on how Spelling to Communicate technology has allowed the two men to use a letterboard as their voice and give their opinions on autism, faith, and how the two collide.
By Katie Vasquez
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy has been serving Sunset Park, Brooklyn, since 1903.
The school has educated the youth of the Diocese of Brooklyn for 122 years and celebrated thousands of graduates. But now the class of 2025 will be its very last, creating a harsh reality for current students like Tiffany and Edison Jing.
” It’s sad,” Tiffany told Currents News, “because I like this school.”
“Just sad,” echoed her brother, Edison.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help has a long history in Sunset Park, first opening its doors in 1903 as St. Alphonsus Catholic Academy. Now, the surrounding community is gearing up to say goodbye.
“It’s a shocker because, you know, it’s been here for a really long time,” Sunset Park resident David Kelly said in response to the announcement of the school’s closure. “My whole life I’ve been seeing it around.”
It’s also been a few couple of days for students and staff.
“I know there was a great deal of tears. I’m sure that the tears continued as the children were home with their families,” Kristen Lavelle, the school’s principal, explained. ” I know that the staff and other people involved have been very upset. But I think this is something that has brought us together and made us even stronger and sort of further proves the resiliency of this community.”
Enrollment at the school declined 36% over the last five years. Only 85 students were registered for the upcoming school year.
“I think that the staff has done a really good job of preparing lessons and making sure that they were able to facilitate good conversations with the students,” noted Lavelle.
Activities and events will continue through the end of the school year, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy’s doors will close permanently at the end of August. Until then, those involved with and in the school will lean on each other to get through.
“I know in the face of such sadness they’ll continue to come together and and help each other through this time,” said Lavelle.
The diocesan schools office is hoping to ease the transition for students by transferring them to a local Catholic school.
A funeral was held in Brooklyn for Jonathan Campos, one of the pilots of the American Airlines jet involved in the mid-air collision that occurred in Washington, D.C. last month.
After more than 120 years of providing Catholic education in Sunset Park, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy will be closing at the end of this school year.
Pope Francis has written a letter to U.S. bishops on immigration, expressing support for their efforts to uphold the dignity of every human person.
By Katie Vasquez
Family and friends feel Jonathan Jay Campos was taken too soon. The pilot from Brooklyn died in a mid-air collision over the Potomac River in late January.
At his funeral mass at the Shrine Church of St. Bernadette in Dyker Heights his loved ones prayed for his soul and grieved the young life lost.
Those who knew and loved Captain Jonathan Jay Campos looked on as his casket was brought into the church on Feb. 11.
It was a fond farewell for a man who family, friends, and Deacon Edwin Rivera called a hero.
“God will see the good nature in him and reward him for it,” said Deacon Rivera, from St. Mary Star of the Sea parish in Brooklyn, told Currents News.
American Airlines flight 5342 plunged into the Potomac river on January 29 with 60 passengers and four crew members, including Jonathan. It was traveling from Wichita, Kansas to Washington D.C.
The plane and a military helicopter collided in mid air as the flight was approaching the runway. Everyone on board died.
His girlfriend of 10 years, Ashley Childress, spoke at his funeral.
“I will hold firmly to the memories of what it’s like to have and love that person,” she told those present in the church.
The airline says the Brooklyn-born pilot left a lasting impression on everyone.
“We are better for the experiences he gave us and for the way he made us feel,” said the president and CEO of PSA Airlines, Dion Flannery.
The 34-year-old captain enjoyed traveling and had a passion for aviation.
His family says he made others smile with his mischievous grin and goofy sense of humor.
Now, those close to him have to learn how to live without him.
“I always knew I would love you forever,” said Childress. “I’m not sure how to face the days ahead without my soul mate.”
Jonathan was buried at St John’s Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens, alongside his late father who was a New York City police officer.
By Currents News
A funeral is being held in Brooklyn for Jonathan Campos, one of the pilots of the American Airlines jet involved in the mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. last month.
Mourners at the Shrine Church of St. Bernadette in Dyker Heights are remembering Campos, who died living out his dream of being a pilot.